


Statement #0080501: When It Started

by AbsolXGuardian



Series: The Book Lays Open, There are Tales to be Told [3]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Borderline RPF, Gen, Jon has friends outside of the archives, Kidnapping, Late Season 4 (TMA), Police apathy, Statement Fic, The Mechanisms were Jon's band, The Mechanisms!Basira, The Mechanisms!Jon, The Mechanisms!Jordan Kennedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24357001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsolXGuardian/pseuds/AbsolXGuardian
Summary: Statement #0080501: Statement of Kofi Young, regarding the kidnapping of his friend and band-mate Jessica Law.
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Basira Hussain, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Jordan Kennedy, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivists & Basira Hussain & Assorted OCs (The rest of the Mechanisms)
Series: The Book Lays Open, There are Tales to be Told [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700164
Comments: 22
Kudos: 111





	1. Statement

**Author's Note:**

> Same disclaimer as last time. All of the Mechanisms who don't play someone else in TMA are represented by OCs who share their IRL names, but have their own personalities and backstories. Also I've very recently discovered Ivy's IRL name, but since that information wasn't made publicly available on the website, I'm still assuming the real person wishes some kind of separation from public life and the Mechanisms. So I'm still not comfortable directly depicting a fictionalized version of him. Morgan Wilkinson (Ivy Alexandria) has moved to Vienna, Maki Yamazaki (Dr. Camilla) is in America, and Nastya has gone back to Russia. This fic has the complete guide to the names I'm using for the band-members. It's set right after MAG 145 Infectious Doubts.

"Statement of Kofi Young," Jon read into a tape recorder, with a mournful sadness in his voiced he'd never had before while introducing a statement, "regarding the kidnapping of his friend and band-mate Jessica Law. Original Statement given 5th January, 2008. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist.

Statement begins."

* * *

 _I need you to believe me, understand. No, not believe me. That doesn't matter. You just need to investigate. I've already gone to the police, they just think I_ _saw things because of the trauma. But I didn't. I know I didn't, because the alternative doesn't make any sense. Despite what you might have been told_ _about stranger danger, people almost never get grabbed by people they've never met before on the street. Especially adults. I've been doing all the reading up I can on_ _kidnapping lately, so I know these kinds of things. Besides, there was no getaway car. When I looked down that driveway, they were both gone. And the police searched the house and the lot._ _They found no evidence of a trespasser or a hasty escape. Whatever happened, it wasn't natural._

 _Jessica told me about this place, her grandmother used to work here. Apparently you take any statement about someone's supernatural experiences, and you i_ _nvestigate it, no matter how far fetched it seems. So that's what you need to do. You're my last hope._

 _Right, I should probably start at the beginning. I'm part of a university band at Oxford called The Mechanisms. We're a steampunk folk band inspired by_ _cabaret bands, but really we just do sci-fi retelling of popular myths. Listen, it's hard to explain. If you really want to know more, we have a website._ _Anyway, there's- was nine of us, and we all go by stage names. We have this whole frame narrative thing going on. I play Marius Von Raum. Jessica Law is- was the_ _Toy Soldier. We also have Jonathan Sims- he goes by Jon- as Jonny D'Ville, Basira Hussain as Ashes O'Reily, Ben Below as DrumBot Brain, Jordan Kennedy as_ _Gunpowder Joe, Rachel Hughes as Raphella la Cognizi, Morgan Wilkinson as Ivy Alexandria, and finally_ _Anastasia Ivanovna as Nastya Rasputina- although we call her Nastya even when she's not in character. She's a Russian exchange student, but she only returns_ _to her home country between years. We were originally founded by Maki Yamazaki under the name Dr. Camilla, but she graduated a bit ago._

 _Now that's enough of names. This all happened the Friday night right before Christmas break. We preformed at the White Horse, a local pub at the edge of_ _Northway that agreed to host us. Surprisingly, we basically filled the place up. Most of our following is through the internet, though, so really only_ _about half of the audience were actually fans. The rest just wanted drinks and a show, and ended up a bit surprised by what they got._

 _But the show went well enough.["Drunk Space Pirate"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9hFTDzkw2k) will eventually work on any crowd. After an encore and some time spent drinking and _ _chatting with our fans in-character, it was time for us to pack up. Jessica and I both live in Dorset House Student Housing, which a short enough walk down_ _London Road from the White Horse, so the two of us packed up our instruments, put coats over our costumes (and in my case, removed my spiked helmet), and_ _went to walk home together._

 _Well, together isn't really the right word. Its basically impossible for Jessica to walk at a speed slower than power-walking if she's covering any distance_ _longer than a room. I prefer to take my time. But we were both used to that, so it bothered neither of us that Jessica was charging ahead with about two_ _meters of distance between us._

_The section of London Road between the White Horse and Dorset House is lined with a suburban housing development for retirees. Each and every house and cul-de-sac entrance lines their street facing sides with tightly planted trees. It makes the driveways and entrances look like forest glades. And it means at night, each one has the visibility of an alleyway._

_The house where it all happened was dark, although the police later found that the old woman who lived there was home at the time. In fact, she'd just suffered a power outage and was trying to reset the fusebox when it all happened._

_When Jessica reached that driveway, she stopped and turned like she was talking to something. I think I heard a male voice asking for help, but I was far away, and there was something...off about it._

_It seemed like someone was hurt, so I sprinted to catch up with Jessica. I got close enough to see that she was talking to a man at the bottom of the driveway- well something man-shaped at least. Other than the fact he was swaying, which probably just meant he was drunk, he didn't look hurt at all. For some reason, it didn't occur to me to call out, even though at that point I was at a reasonable speaking distance._

_Jessica placed her instrument cases on the ground and took a tentative half step towards the thing. The moment she made that little bit of movement, it lashed out with its hands and gripped Jessica's forearm. It pull her behind the trees and out of my sight._

_At that point, ran as fast as I could. I whipped around to face the driveway, fumbling with my phone to turn on the torch. I turned it on, but there was nothing. The only indication that anything unusual had occurred were Jessica's instrument cases on the sidewalk._

_I called out to Jessica. This had to be a prank. As I searched the front yard, tried to reason that the only way someone could conceal themselves that well is if Jessica and the man-thing were working together. That had to be it. But each time I called out her name, I became more anxious. I tried calling her mobile, but my phone claimed she had no service._

_After I ran out of places to search that didn't involve even more trespassing, I called the police. The officers who responded made it clear they thought this was all a prank. I called Jessica's roommate, who confirmed that she both existed, and hadn't come in yet. After I made it clear to them I understood the consequences for falsifying an emergency call, I managed to convince them to call the owner of Dorset House at one in the morning to confirm both Jessica's existence and unknown whereabouts._

_That got them to open a proper investigation and do all the things they do. When I was asked to give my formal statement, I repeated everything I just wrote out, but now I'm certain that the police have discarded my entire account as the ramblings of a traumatized man who just lost a close friend. I tried telling Jessica's parents, but they were understandably too upset to properly listen. Jordan and Basira, the only two Mechanism members I've really spoken with since then, don't believe me either and I can hear the pity in their non-committal answers._

_Which just leaves you people. I need you to understand the urgency of my situation. The police have made it clear through implication that since its been a bit over two weeks without any kind of ransom demand, Jessica has most likely been murdered, and her body just hasn't been found yet. And that the only other alternative would be a fate that might be worse than death. But if she's suffering any kind of torture, I know it has to be some kind of supernatural thing. So you need to get out there and save her._

* * *

"Statement ends."

Jon sighed. He wiped away the tears he didn't realize had begun to form as he read the statement. He cleared his throat, and forced himself to speak.

"Even if I still did follow-up, this statement still wouldn't need any. What Kofi saw was consistent with what Nikola told me about it sending the Angler Fish to capture Jessica. I know how this story ends, from both sides of the equation."

Jon sighed, trying to keep his grief inside. "The lack of any additional documents in the file indicates that the Archive didn't preform any investigation, despite Kofi's pleas. In 2008, Gertrude would have been focused on stopping the Buried's ritual." 

Jon paused, and eventually decided that any level of professionalism or functional archiving had been abandoned long ago. He might as well just think out loud. "I wonder how Gertrude dealt with incoming statements once she dedicated herself to stopping the rituals. She still had Micheal Shelley with her at this point. Did she just grab random statements to take for sustenance while she traveled? Did she trust the Eye to determine the relevant statements for her? How did she conduct her research through such a massive backlog? Perhaps she did read this statement, eventually, during her research into stopping the Unknowing? No. She probably didn't, I got some energy out of reading it, and I don't think the Eye likes repeats."

Jon brought his hand up to wipe a few tears. There was no reason for him not to make this personal. The tapes picked up whatever they'd like. "I wonder what would have happened if I found this statement sooner, back when everything was a big mystery. I mean, I know Jordan coming in to give a statement didn't cause me to contact him later, but at that point I was a paranoid wreck. What if found this before Jane Prentiss attacked? It's just- Jessica getting taken is so important, but it also feels like a footnote- just another statement that doesn't add pieces to the puzzle, just some shading to the picture I already have. But without it, I'm not really sure how, but I know things would have gone differently. I would have friends outside of the Institute. Maybe they could have grounded me when I was second guessing all of my assistants. It's just, I know that this changed so much. Not for the world, but for me. I mean, this is also the reason Basira became a cop in the first place. So I suppose the fact Nikola decided to make Jessica's voice its own is the thing that set her on this path. But for me, it feels as important as when I encountered my first Leitner at age eight."

It was just hard for Jon to put it into words, even after he'd decided there was no reason to keep secrets from some tape recorder. He could barely untangle the factual mess he'd been thrust into, the emotional one provided no hope for him. He was pretty sure that the way he coped Jessica's disappearance was what lead to Georgie breaking up with him and resulted in him spending far too many weekends riding the carousel at the London Zoo. When Jon picked out this statement for his next meal, there didn't feel like there was anything special to it. The sadness he felt when he picked it up, even before he read the summary, felt more like a reaction than an aura, and now it was clear why. Before statements had scared him with their promise of the end of the world or the next threat he had to foil. Or granted him a revelation as the pieces finally managed to click into place. But this one just brought him grief. And it was a completed grief. This story was finished, there was nothing for him to do.  
  
Well, that wasn't entirely true. Jon had promised he'd tell the Mechanisms everything that happened after the Unknowing was stopped. But then he was thrown into a coma for six months, and woke up something not entirely human anymore, and with so many new problems. He hadn't even thought of them until all that guilt came rushing back when he read Kofi's name. But there was one other person who deserved to know the truth. Someone for who there could be no excuses for.

"Recording ends," Jon added, turning off the tape recorder as he left.

* * *

Jon let himself into the Institute reading room that the Archival staff had co-opted for their own personal use. "Basira?" He asked, by way of announcement as he opened the door. But he already Knew he'd find Basira here.

"Oh, hey Jon." Basira looked up from the book she was reading. The table that had once occupied the center of the room had been pushed to the side to make room for the flat-screen TV and gaming console Basira bought for Daisy to help with the woman's restlessness. It was Melanie's idea, and they had charged the Institute for it. It seemed either Peter wasn't paying attention, or Martin had done them all a solid and approved the purchase

"Hello," Jon replied, as he sat down in the seat across from Basira. He could tell from Basira's reaction, that it didn't seem like he was managing to hide his distress from her. "Is Daisy here?" It didn't feel right for Daisy to know about Kofi's statement. It was matter between him and Basira. Involving anyone who wasn't a member of the Mechanisms felt like it was violating something. Rich coming from him, Jon supposed, considering his entire job was knowing the intimate details of someone's traumatic experience. Still, he needed to let himself have that irrational desire.

"No," Basira inserted a bookmark, closed the book, and put it to her side. "She and Melanie went out to get drinks. Why?"

"There's a statement I need you to read," he placed the file containing Kofi's statement on the table. 

Basira looked nervous that the statement would have some world shattering revelation. But when she opened it, and read the statement giver's name and statement subject on the intake form, her face changed. Somehow, she was both relieved and more distressed.

"Jon, this is..."

"I know what it is," The lump that had begun to form on Jon's throat made harder to talk. "Just read it, okay. Read it, and then I'll tell you what else I know." He didn't think he could handle summarizing it.

* * *

"Wow. Just wow," Basira leaned back, taking it all in. "And you say that the mannequin thing who kidnapped you, who was leading the Unknowing, she's the one who arranged all this?"

"Nikola Orsinov," Jon replied, "Yes."

"I she was there at the Unknowing. She spoke to us. I heard her." Those statements were not quite facts, not quite questions.

"Yes," Jon replied, gently. "But it makes sense you didn't recognize the voice. There was a lot going on."

Basira looked down at the statement in front of her. "But I did. I noticed that it sounded like Jessica. But I just didn't think about it. I blocked out everything that didn't make sense, and focused on what I knew. That's how I was the only one who really made it out."

Basira looked up at Jon, seemingly embarrassed and worried that she'd offended him with what she'd said. It didn't. Jon understood what she meant, and he was the one in the wrong here.

"Basira, I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier, it's just-"

"There was so much going on," Basira filled in, back to her usual business-like tone. "I understand, saving the world was more important.

Jon replied with a sad smile. He was very glad Basira was taking this so well.

Then Basira surprised him with an ironic laugh.

"What?"

"Oh sorry, it's just," Basira explained, "you know I decided to become a cop after Jessica was- was taken?"

"Uh yeah, Jordan told me," Jon replied, hoping Basira wouldn't realize that meant he didn't notice the change until only around a year ago, "I assumed it was because you wanted to be there the next time something bad like that happened, to help other people, that kind of thing."

"That was part of it. But I also wanted unrestricted access to Jessica's case-file. Maybe there was something in there they hadn't put together, that I could. Looking back, it was a fool's hope. But right after I got my badge, I went to Oxford and looked over her case file. There was nothing. Nothing the police hadn't practically told us. It was a cold case. They never had any leads or suspects. But after I got Sectioned, I went to look again. Kofi kept insisting on what he saw. So I thought that maybe, even if he'd gotten the details wrong, perhaps there was still something they'd only let a Sectioned officer see. When I requested the file that time, I kept reminding the file clerk that. He was so confused. There was nothing new in there. I even tracked down the officers who handled the case. They weren't Sectioned. I think that was when I really gave up. I thought all the supernatural stuff I'd gotten thrown into- it was some unlucky coincidence. But it was what started it..." Basira trailed off.

"And by the time you found out, everything had been dealt with," Jon suggested, "I'm feeling the same way."

"Yeah, that's about it. Thank you for telling me."

Jon nodded, and let a few moments of awkward silence stretch out, before he couldn't stay quite anymore. "I'm telling them."

"What?" Basira replied, half in confusion and half in shock.

"The rest of the Mechanisms. I have to tell them, they have a right to know. I promised myself that I'd tell them everything after the Unknowing was stopped, and I can't let myself back down now."

"You're really going to tell them _everything_?"

Jon realized what Basira had concluded. He wasn't even thinking of the rest of his mess of a life outside of narrow range of what happened to Jessica. "Oh, not everything-everything. That would, that would just be too much," Besides, he wanted friends who didn't know he was some kind of fear-eating dream monster. "Just about what happened with Jessica and Nikola. I don't think I'll even explain the Entities."

Basira still didn't look convinced. "I'm not sure about this, but it's not like I can stop you." Ouch, there was probably still some tension left over from when Jon went into The Buried without telling her. 

Jon sighed. "Please, Basira. I want you to be there with me when I tell them. I just want as many of us- well as many of us who can- to be there. Jordan and I have been working on scheduling a meeting, and I've already drafted emails for Nastya, Morgan, and Maki. I need to do this."

"Fine, I'll join you."

The little fluttered of elation Jon felt at Basira's acceptance was probably they best he'd felt in a single moment since he'd come out of his coma. 

A part of Jon knew that what he was doing was unfair. They didn't go around telling statement-givers what their experiences really meant, but somehow, when it came to his friends, he felt like they had a right to understand their stories. That conviction probably wouldn't stand up in any kind of philosophical or logical debate, but he didn't care. Georgie said he needed anchors, right? Well maybe, if he was really lucky, his old friends could be the anchors he needed. 


	2. Followup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon and Basira go to meet the rest of the Mechanisms and tell them the truth about Jessica.

"Basira! Jon! It's so good to see you." Jon passively accepted the hug from Ben, who had ran up to him as Basira when they entered the coffee shop.

Ben pulled out from the hug and turned to Basira. "So, you keeping up with the bass?"

Now it was Basira's turn to be bashful. "No, not really, there's just been so much going on."

"I suppose a cop doesn't get much time to practice," Ben shook his head. "Damn, I still can't really believe you joined the police." 

Other than Maki, Basira and Ben were the only other members of the Mechanisms who had majored in music. While she enjoyed playing the electric bass for their band more, Basira also played the upright orchestral bass, and dreamed of being one of the first Muslim women to be a member of a professional orchestra in the UK. But that was so long ago and _Basira didn't even own an instrument now_.

"Come on," Ben gestured to the both of them to follow him, "I'll lead you to our table."

As Jon followed Ben, he realized with a start where exactly he was. This was the same coffee shop, a small local one by Pinnacle, where he had extracted Jess Terrel's statement. He'd been so out of in when he was "hunting", that Jon hadn't really registered where he went. So he didn't recognize the name when Ben brought it up as somewhere they could meet. He was so then hungry, that he couldn't think of anything else. But this time Jon had recorded a statement before they left. When he made sure not to take live statements, he never felt sated, but if he consumed a statement frequently enough, his "hunger" became more comparable to that of someone between meals who'd like a snack. Of course, the feeling of this hunger was probably most comparable to a drug addict  
suffering withdrawal.

_No_ , this wasn't the place. This wasn't about Jon, it was about his friends.

Ben led them over to the largest capacity table, a circular booth in a corner that could easily sit six people. They had to reserve it, and although it wasn't in a secluded location, Jude Perry's belief that people in public would do their best to block out and rationalize a conversation about the supernatural they overheard had proven true once, and hopefully it would do so again.

Rachel and Kofi were already there. Rachel was showing Kofi something on her phone, while what was likely Kofi's own phone was face down on the table. When they noticed the three of them approaching, they both put their phones in their pocket. Basira, Jon, and Ben scooted into the booth, with the result being that the three of them were facing Jon and Basira.

"So, what is this all about?" Kofi sounded a bit brusque, but he had always been like that, quick to skip small talk and get down to business.

"I-" A chasm of anxiety that Jon had never confronted before opened up before him. With the prospect of him telling his friends the truth right in front of him, such a thing suddenly felt impossible. Sure he had already sent an email to Nastya, Morgan, and Maki right before they left, but that was different. He didn't have to see their faces as he told them, and wouldn't find out how they reacted until he checked his email after this whole meeting, or maybe even later.

Basira sensed Jon's discomfort and jumped in. "What Jon has to say is a very delicate topic, and he'd prefer to only have to say it once. So we'd like to wait until Jordan gets here to start. Right Jon?" Basira's elbow in his side successfully broke Jon out of his own worries.

"Yes, that's it."

Kofi responded with a huff and slumped back into his seat, crossing his arms. Sure Kofi had always been the most direct of them all, but this was new.

_It's because of what happened with Jessica. He saw it happened, and had to deal with the police mishandling the case first hand. You mentioned that_ _you had information about Jessica, and he wants it. He's the most angry of you all when it comes to the trauma_ Jon's Knowing supplied before he could stop it. Jon felt like he'd done something wrong, essentially reading Kofi's mind like that. The only consolation was that Jon could tell, through his own intuition, that Kofi's anger wasn't directed at him.

"Oh, Jordan's finally here," Ben interjected, as he stood up inside the booth to wave Jordan over. Jon glanced over his shoulder to see Jordan nod in acknowledgment, and then go to order something at the counter.

Shortly Jordan came over, holding a coffee cup and an additional caffeine packet. His eyes had deep circles under them, and the most startling part of it all, Jordan looked at Jon with a mixture of fear and rage.

_Of course he does. Your's is the face that haunts his nightmares, which have ruined his life and reduced him to his current pitiful state._

A jolt of guilt ran through Jon as he remembered that last night, likely because he had been thinking about him, the nightmare he Watched was Jordan's. Jon had never really thought about how his visitations would correlate with his victims'- because yes- that's what they were and how Jon must think of them- own nightmares. But from the way Jordan looked, he must have also had his nightmare the previous night.

In a way that left no room for debate, Jordan sat down on the side of the circular booth across from Jon, forcing the entire group to shift to accommodate him.

Jon wondered, if perhaps, the right thing to do would be to offer Jordan a job. Daisy said that the Eye doesn't terrorize its own, that he doesn't terrorize them. Jordan could have a nice salary, and the freedom to spent his time on whatever project he actually wanted to do. Jordan had a Art History degree, and that was always his passion. The Jordan Jon knew was an optimist, although the confidence that he could live on passion must have been bruised, as Jordan had turned his high school job helping out at a family friend's exterminator company into his career. 

In the end, it was selfishness that kept Jon from interceding. He saw how Jordan already looked at him, and he didn't want to see what it looked like when Jordan wasn't trying to hold back, wasn't trying to reason that you shouldn't blame someone for what your brain makes them do in your dreams. The logical moral philosopher in him condemned Jon's choice. The embarrassment, even the loss of a friend, was an acceptable price to pay for Jon to save one person from the nightly hell he wrought.

But Jon silenced that part of himself, just as he had when it asserted that his friends had no more or less of a right to the truth than anyone else who had ever submitted a truthful statement to the Magnus Institute. He didn't have to listen, didn't have to be ethical, if he was already damned to becoming a monster.

And besides, he wanted friends who didn't know the monster he really was.

"So, what's your big revelation?" A bitter Jordan spat out, breaking Jon from his own thoughts, as Jordan poured the caffeine powder into his drink.

Jon placed his hands on the table, and took a breath. "I know what happened to Jessica."

He paused to watch his friends' reactions. Kofi suddenly sat up, an eager hunger is his eyes. And to a lesser extent, everyone else gave Jon their full attention. After this moment of gauging their reactions, Jon blocked them out, and fell back onto the speech he had written over and over again in his head. 

"As you know, I've been employed as the Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, an organization that studies the supernatural in an academic fashion. Kofi actually submitted a statement there shortly after Jessica was- after she was taken. While my predecessor never seems to have investigated it, I recently read it myself. That's why I called this meeting. Because the explanation is something the Institute already knows.

Jessica was taken by an entity I've dubbed the Anglerfish. It's purpose is to take people so their skins can be used to clothe the skinwalkers of the Circus of the Other. This 'circus' was lead by an animated mannequin named Nikola Orsinov. While most of the victims of the Anglerfish were taken randomly, Jessica was specifically targeted.

Orsinov required a voice box, and it after it attended our last performance, it chose Jessica for its victim. Last year, the Institute came into conflict with the Circus. They planned to preform a ritual that would destroy the world. That was the first time I encountered Orsinov. It kidnapped me, but before I escaped, I managed to get its side of the story. That- that's when I learned what happened to Jessica. I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier. It just didn't feel right when the fate of the world was at risk, when I had to dedicate all my time to saving it." Jon had made a conscious decision to not actually tell his friends why he didn't tell them until after the Unknowing was foiled. He just felt like giving the real explanation- that he didn't want them to suddenly feel obligated to put themselves in danger to save the world, or that he wanted to have friends who were outside of the business would make them feel patronized.

The six of them sat in awkward silence. Everyone who wasn't Basira looked a combination of shocked and sick, as they came to terms with Jessica's true fate.

It was Ben who broke the silence first, as he couldn't stop from giving a short fatalistic laugh. "You know, the most unbelievable part of this story is the idea that Jon is the one who saved the world."

Jon felt a rush of embarrassment and anger, but the playful kind, when your friend teases in good fun, yet you still know there's a kernel of truth in it you must admit to yourself.

Basira must have sensed the change in tone as well, as she teased back "Well he did have help."

This lightening of the mood spread to the rest of the table, breaking each of them out of their own head-spaces.

"What happened to Nikola?" Kofi asked, still desperate for more information.

"Oh right" Jon apologized, "I forgot to mention that. As you can tell, we saved the world and foiled the Circus' plans. In the process, we blew up their base. Orsinov, the skinwalkers, and the Anglerfish, they were all destroyed. No supernatural magic or immortality could bring them back." The last part was just wishful thinking on Jon's part. Basira hadn't found anything to indicate that anything survived the explosion, except for Jon. And, as they found out later, Breekon and the coffin. Jon really didn't want to find out if the assumptions he made about the mechanics, like that Gertrude was correct about the Unknowing being the most vulnerable right near the climax of the ritual, therefore Stranger and the Eye could have protected their own, but not the Circus were correct or not. He sure hoped they were.

At that, Kofi visibly relaxed.

"What about the worm-woman Jordan and you dealt with?" Rachel asked, in a more curious and academic way then Kofi had, "Did she have anything to do with Jessica?"

Upon hearing his name, Jordan refocused and looked at Jon, then Rachel a moment later. It seemed like, even with such a topic, his mind was wandering as he waited for the caffeine to kick in. Basira's own good humor vanished. And although Jon's only indication was her change in posture in his peripheral vision, the message was clear. Basira had been adamant that the rest of the Mechanisms couldn't find out about the Fears. That would drag them into their world irrevocably. And the more he thought about Basira's requirement, the more he had to agree. He was doing the same thing, wasn't he? Desperately wanting to hide that he was a Avatar, so he could just have some normal friends. 

"Jane Prentiss- the 'worm-woman'- was unrelated to the Circus of the Other. Jane Prentiss was infected by a supernatural parasite. I assume Jordan mentioned the hive he encountered? The Circus of the Other started off as a circus in Russia- _Drugoy Tsirk_ \- Another Circus. It's original members began experimenting with creating monsters from flesh and objects. Eventually their self-reproducing and independent creations- Nikola and the other skinwalkers replaced all of the human members. They did their terrorizing, and eventually made their way to England. The purpose of their ritual was to spread the confusion of identity they thrived on- and while the world and the people living on it would still exist, it would be turned to a hell of their own making." Jon was surprised by the confidence with which he wove his deception from threads of truth. He wondered, if the concepts he effortlessly made up was actually him subconsciously Knowing details of the Circus' history, and he just retold them with the Stranger's influence removed.

Rachel nodded, as if he was a lecturer who had just answered a question about the material, although Jon could tell she was still turning the information over.

Kofi snapped out of his own thoughts. "Why doesn't everyone know about this?" he ranted, "if these supernatural events are more than a one-off, if they have multiple sources, why isn't it public knowledge? Why don't we have professional monster hunters, instead of relying on librarians to save the world?"

In spite of the ease in which Jon had invented separate origins for Jane Prentiss and the Circus, he had no idea how to create an explanation for Kofi's question. In fact, Jon hadn't even thought to hard about this question in general, although if he had to guess at an answer, it was probably because so many Avatars occupied positions of power all around the world- even more then the few Jon knew of, such as powerful wealthy families like the Lukases and the Fairchilds _or the epidemic of Hunters in law enforcement._

Thankfully, Basira stepped in. "I don't really know, but if I had to guess, the 'powers-that-be' think that public knowledge of the supernatural would make society unstable. The British police keep all information regarding cases with supernatural elements behind an exception of the Freedom of Information called Section 31. I have to assume that governments all over the world do something similar. Back when I was a cop, I ended up 'sectioned' because I caught a paranormal case. Which meant I'd get assigned to any other supernatural cases in the future. We're not really a unit, but many of us are assigned to what's basically monster hunting. The problem is, we don't coordinate with civilian organizations like the Magnus Institute, so all of us are just figuring things out as we go. Or maybe not. Maybe my old boss', boss', boss knows what's going on. You could try shouting all of this from the rooftops, although I'm not sure how far you'd get. Or if you'd disappear under 'mysterious' circumstances. The Magnus Institute isn't interested in making the truth public knowledge either. Maybe there's some deep conspiracy. I wouldn't try looking. All of that is part of why I quit. I couldn't stay away though, once I made it my business. That's how these kinds of things work."

Kofi squared his jaw. "And the police who handled my case? We're they in on it? Did they actually not find anything?"

"I've read the files, both before and after I got sectioned," Basira replied, "The officers who caught the case didn't even realize it was supernatural. They disregarded your statement as-"

"As trauma," Kofi cut in, "Of course."

There was something in the way Kofi glared at no one in particular that scared Jon, that made him wonder what he might be planning. And it must have worried Basira as well.

"Kofi, I understand that you're upset about not being told the truth, but you need to stay away. You were lucky enough that your one brush with the supernatural resulted in a clean break. If you kept digging, you wouldn't be able to leave. That's what happened to me," Basira paused for a moment, thinking, "That's what happened to Jon, and to my friend Daisy. Every creature involved in taking Jessica away from us has been destroyed. There isn't even anyone to take revenge against. You join our world, you're only leaving it dead. You- all of you- need to understand this. Knowing about the supernatural, being involved with it, it's not a blessing. Maybe it would be different if the generalities were public knowledge, but that's not the world we're in. You're our friends, and I want to you be safe. So I can't let you squander your freedom while you still have it."

Basira's speech seemed to have cowed Kofi, best as Jon could tell. It shocked everyone into silence, until Jordan finally spoke up. 

"The conflict with this Circus, when about did it start?" Jordan asked.

"Well it really began late May thereabouts," Jon replied, "and it ended in August."

Jon could tell metaphorical gears were spinning in Jordan's head. "Why did it take almost a whole year to tell us, if your reasoning for waiting was because you were busy dealing with the ritual?" These questions felt almost like an interrogation. Jordan was asking limited questions for specific facts, while obscuring why he wanted them. Jon knew that if he made an effort, he could probably Know why, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to his friend on purpose.

Jon felt Basira tense beside him. He knew that she was sizing up the same possibilities as he was. If he said he was in a coma, which had rattled him, even leaving out the fact he was dead by all measures _except_ for neurological reflexes, his friend would have an appropriately concerned reaction. Which would then prompt questions about things like the physical therapy he should have absolute needed after six months entirely motionless. Mentioning that there were other, more pressing, supernatural concerns would require telling them about more "monsters". However, there was another excuse. Like the others, it had its basis in truth. It was also the most shameful. But that was the lowest cost.

"I'd forgotten," Jon admitted, "It had slipped my mind. It wasn't until I chanced upon Kofi's statement that I remembered the promise I made myself. I'm sorry." 

Whatever answer Jordan might have been expecting, that wasn't it. Beyond that, Jon couldn't decode anything more from his facial expressions.

Ben put a comforting hand on Jon's shoulder. For the first few moments, Jon had to suppress the instinct to flinch.

"Jon, it's okay," Ben said, with earnest kindness, "You shouldn't beat yourself up over waiting. I can tell both of you wanted to protect us, by keeping us in the dark. But you told us everything. I understand that your jobs are very dangerous, so we'll stay away. But this can't be the last time we hear from you. You're busy, but things have to cool down every now and then, when the fate of the world isn't at stake. When that happens, we're going to hang out. We'll go to the cinema. We'll holiday in the country with Rachel's family. You'll carry us in pub trivia. You'll both come to my gigs. We'll have karaoke nights where Basira wins because she's the only one who isn't drunk out of her mind. You understand?"

Jon couldn't suppress a smile at the reminder of how he'd hung out with his band-mates before everything fell apart. "Thank you. I'll do that," he lied again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jon's morality becoming more emotion than logic based is me capitalizing on some accidental synergy between the previous chapter and how, in the latest episode, it seems like Jon is doing revenge for revenge's sake, rather then to help other people. I think this kind of moral fall is the most interesting, as it is both more human and less ethical.
> 
> The next installment will take place during the fearpocalypse, and focus on the reformed Mechanisms and the kinda-redemption of Nikola. We'll also see what Kofi and Jordan's reactions amount to. It will take a bit longer than usual, because I don't have the general plot structure figured out.
> 
> Jordan being an exterminator in high school is because that's the only way his "working an an exterminator for 20 years" line works, something I only realized after posting Gunpowder Joe!

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will finally feature the entirety of the Mechanisms you'll be seeing in this fic in person. Also, while writing this, I've matched Jonny in meticulousness. All the locations in Oxford are real places I found on Google Maps. And Jessica' grandmother, was, of course, Fiona Law.


End file.
